Scientists have found life in space … and it’s not what you think

August 29, 2014 by John M. Guilfoil

I’m not kidding.

It’s not quite little green men, but Russian cosmonauts have found microscopic organisms living on the outside surface of the International Space Station.

The microscopic lifeforms, identified as a type of sea plankton, were found during a spacewalk recently.

“Results of the experiment are absolutely unique,” Russian ISS Orbital Mission Chief Vladimir Solovyev told ITAR-TASS. “This should be studied further.”

Phytoplankton similar to what was found on the surface of the ISS

Gizmodo reports that there’s a chance that this life not only survived in the vacuum of space, but it might have multiplied and grew!

Neither NASA nor the Russian space agency can account for how sea plankton ended up on the outer hull of the ISS. One far-fetched explanation says that atmospheric currents might be lifting the lifeforms up from the ocean all the way to the ISS — which is 205 miles in the sky.

The lifeforms were found when cosmonauts on a clean-up mission analyzed engine gunk that had dirtied the surface of the ISS.

Pinterest Takes Flight: NASA Astronaut ‘Pins’ Space Photos From Orbit

August 19, 2013 by John Guilfoil

Karen Nyberg is currently a flight engineer with the Expedition 36 crew

Pinterest user Karen Nyberg takes her followers on a journey through space, where the American astronaut pins her life and work on the International Space Station.

Nyberg is currently a flight engineer with the Expedition 36 crew, but stays “down-to-earth” as a typical social media junkie.

“I also will definitely miss coffee in the morning out of a cup,” she said. “It’s just not quite the same when you drink your coffee from a bag.”

She shares a video about how she washes her hair, a question she frequently gets asked by her 6,300 and growing Pinterest followers.

Within the last four years, social media has become a prominent tool for astronauts. The first Twitter message from space came from astronaut Mike Massimino in 2009, on his mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Many astronaut profiles on NASA’S website feature social media links, which means a second-hand experience of space is at our finger tips.

Controlling the robotic arm, carrying spacewalker Luca Parmitano, from inside the Space Station during the spacewalk on July 9, 2013.

Nyberg’s Pinterest account is more than just her life in space. Her bio reads, “Astronaut by day, aspiring quilter, crafter, artist, runner by night. Wife and Mommy 24/7. Currently living & working on the International Space Station. Out of her 23 pin boards, 75 are devoted to what Karen Nyberg is passionate about. But about eight boards share photos and information about life as an astronaut.

Nyberg took flight to the orbiting laboratory on May 28 with Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano. They are currently living aboard the 100$ billion space station.

You can explore Nyberg’s life and experiences and start following her on Pinterest here.

October Surprise Hurricane Sandy 2012

October 26, 2012 by

Sandy stays offshore until she reaches Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. Then she veers landward into the highly populated Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Regains of the United States, and mixes with two other winter fronts to become a Perfect Storm.

[UPDATE] Category 1 Hurricane Sandy is centered at sea off the southern US while heading North. She is predicted to turn left and land between the Chesapeake Bay, Southern New Jersey, and New York. There Sandy will combine forces with two winter weather fronts. Areas from the Carolinas to Canada, from Ohio to Maine, are in store for heavy rain or snow over much of the coming Halloween week. Hurricane Sandy earlier trounced Cuba, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, with winds over 100mph and causing the deaths of an estimated 43 people.

A Monster Storm

In the rush these days to give every phenomenon an internet meme, Hurricane Sandy, the late season superstorm of 2012, is being called “Frankenstorm”, “October Surprise”, and bigger than the “Perfect Storm” of 1991.

Three weather fronts are converging over the mid-Atlantic early next week in what meteorologists call an “atmospheric bomb”: 1 – Hurricane Sandy is bring warm wind and rain from the South with a massive tropical depression. 2 – From the Pacific is a second major storm front that has dropped temperatures and snow across western part the country. 3 – An Arctic blast comes from Greenland… There’s this Jet Stream, sandwiched between Sandy and the snow storm, which on TV simulations appears to function as an enabler to spin up the two storms into a super storm while traveling through the NorthEast.

The infamous original “Perfect Storm” of 1991 happened at Halloween off the coast of New England and Nova Scotia Canada. The Perfect Storm was born as the remnants of Hurricane Grace met with a cold Nor’easter storm. Hurricane Sandy, or Frankenstorm, is worse. Predictions are describing more extreme conditions for 2012’s Perfect Storm. Whereas the 1991 Perfect Storm was centered offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, with the continent escaping from its most extreme fury (the subject of the movie “The Perfect Storm”), but Sandy is poised to strike at the most densely populated section of the United States. She will reach land on the full moon, which will augment the high tide and storm surge.

Your Government Service Hard at Work

The NOAA National Weather Service, Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC), predicts “dangerous hurricane/post-tropical cyclone Sandy is likely to spread high winds, heavy rains and interior heavy snows from the Carolinas and Central Appalachians northward into Canada.” The HPC report, valid through Friday, November 2, 2012, describes the models that predict the storm behavior:

“…SHOW PRESSURE SOLUTIONS WELL BEYOND WHAT HAS EVER BEEN OBSERVED NEAR THE NEW JERSEY/NEW YORK COAST (EVEN EXCEEDING THE 1938 LONG ISLAND EXPRESS HURRICANE) EARLY IN THE MEDIUM RANGE PERIOD.”

Sandy's rainfall prediction as of Friday 10/26/2012, through Wednesday 10/31. But, that's only halfway through the storm... stay tuned. — Sandy’s rainfall prediction as of Friday 10/26/2012, through Wednesday 10/31. But, that’s only halfway through the storm… stay tuned.

“…SHOW A VERY STRONG BIAS WITH TROPICAL CYCLONES GAINING LATITUDE AND/OR TRANSITIONING INTO NON-TROPICAL STORMS OVER THE PAST COUPLE YEARS… INCLUDING (BUT NOT EXCLUSIVE TO) LESLIE 2012…ISAAC 2012…DEBBY 2012 IN THE WESTERN SUBTROPICAL ATLANTIC IRENE 2011 AND IGOR 2010.”

The October Surprise

Surprise, the 2012 presidential campaign season is now closed! Everyday folks, who perhaps were growing weary to the constant partisan, quasi-water-torture-style reporting of pre-election coverage, now turn their attention to the weather and survival needs. So-called undecided voters, in Swing States, if they are really still undecided, might consider the candidates’ real world positions, policies, or plans to address global warming, to strengthen our economy with alternative energy approaches, and to manage emergencies such as hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes. These are good discussion topics for home when our electricity goes out (as mine does in every storm). Tomorrow, I will early vote. Then I’m ready for one week of no power and no shopping for food. And I hope you will be too. Be safe.

NASA videos – Time Lapse of Sandy in the Carribean

View of Sandy from the International Space Station

Success! Progress 48 arrives at ISS in less than 6 hours

August 2, 2012 by John M. Guilfoil

The Russian Progress 48 docking to the International Space Station Wednesday

In a first for Earth’s space ambitions, a space station received food and supplies from a cargo ship on the same day of the launch.

The Russian Progress 48 unmanned freighter launched Wednesday afternoon EDT to make the historic attempt to dock with the International Space Station in six hours.

The craft parked itself at the Pirs docking component ahead of schedule, at 9:19 p.m. Wednesday.

NASA said the docking went smoothly and the Progress performed flawlessly in this revolutionary same-day docking procedure.

The plan is to eventually be able to send crew to the station in the same six-hour window, reducing wasted time spent aboard a Soyuz capsule. Until now, it took two days to blast off and rendezvous with the iSS.

Russia to attempt same-day rendezvous with ISS today

August 1, 2012 by John M. Guilfoil

The Russian Progress 48 is raised into launch position ahead of its Aug. 1, 2012 launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The unmanned capsule will try to launch and deliver tons of cargo to the International Space Station in the same day for the first time ever (Media credit/RSC Energia)

You might not be aware, but space history may be made today if a Russian Soyuz successfully blasts off and the Progress 48 unmanned cargo freighter makes a successful rendezvous with the International Space Station.

So what? Doesn’t this happen all the time?

Well, yes. But it’s usually a two-day trip from blast-off, to orbit, to rendezvous, to docking. Today’s mission will try to put the freighter together with the ISS on the same day. This is a critical move, as “help” has always been about 48 hours away if anything ever went wrong on the station. Today’s mission could cut that down to about six hours.

Progress 48 is scheduled to launch at 3:35 p.m. EDT and dock with the ISS at 9:24 if all goes well.

If the mission is successful, it will translate into quicker arrivals and departures for crew members in the future, letting them spend more time in the station doing work instead of wasting days on the trips.

The Soyuz also isn’t exactly what you’d call “comfortable,” so if you can take a day and a half off time spent in those cramped quarters, it’s a win.